- Chief Minister Adhikari alleges ‘bhaipo gang’ involvement in aide’s murder.
- He claims Rs 2 crore was spent for the killing.
- CBI probes murder, arresting suspects, tracking money trail.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday alleged that he had reasons to believe the ‘bhaipo gang’, an apparent reference to followers of TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, was involved in the murder of Chandranath Rath, his personal assistant, in the aftermath of the Assembly polls.
Adhikari made the allegation on a day when the BJP named Hasirani Rath, the mother of his slain aide, as its candidate for the Nandigram bypoll. He accompanied Hasirani Rath to the SDO office in Haldia in Purba Medinipur district to submit her nomination.
Adhikari Claims Rs 2 Crore Was Spent On Murder
The chief minister said the CBI had made “commendable progress” in investigating Chandranath Rath’s murder and had already arrested and charge-sheeted some of the accused.
“But I have learnt from reliable sources that a huge sum of money, about Rs 2 crore, was spent on account of the murder. It included paying off the sharpshooters and supari killers (contract killers) and that the ‘bhaipo gang’ was involved in it,” Adhikari claimed, without clarifying who exactly he referred to as ‘bhaipo’.
In July 2025, Adhikari, then the Leader of the Opposition in the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government in Bengal, had released a photo gallery of around 50 individuals and used the term “bhaipo gang” to target associates and student leaders linked to the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of the erstwhile ruling party.
He had claimed they ran unchecked syndicate operations and a threat culture in higher education institutions.
CBI Probing Phone Records, Money Trail
“The investigators have found several phone call records from Diamond Harbour (Abhishek Banerjee’s Lok Sabha constituency) and have nabbed the courier who transported the money. The CBI is investigating all these aspects, and we will get to the bottom of this brutal murder,” Adhikari said.
Addressing a gathering at a ‘Vijay Sankalp Sabha’ in Nandigram in support of Hasirani Rath, the chief minister said, “Chandra was brutally murdered for the sole reason that he supported the leader of the opposition. He was removed from this world prematurely for that ‘crime’. But it is our commitment to stand by his family and ensure justice for the wrong done to him.”
Chandranath Rath Murder Case
Chandranath Rath was shot dead at point-blank range near Madhyamgram in North 24 Parganas district by motorcycle-borne assailants on the night of May 6, barely 48 hours after the Assembly election results, which sealed a comprehensive victory for the BJP, were declared.
The probe was handed over to the CBI due to its inter-state crime operation implications. The investigation has since led to the arrest and charge-sheeting of 11 suspects, including Burrabazar-based siblings Sagar and Sahib Sonkar.
CBI officials had said the brothers were former associates of Rath and had masterminded his killing.
“The suspects were behind the hiring of sharpshooters and paying them money,” an officer of the investigating team had said, adding, “We have found that they were in touch over the phone with an opposition party leader. All angles are being probed.”
The agency filed its chargesheet against the 11 accused on August 6.
